Sick Day
by HawkheartedLion
Summary: Jack finds that has caught a fever and heads to the Pole to try and freeze it out but when North finds him an epic battle starts. Jack Frost versus cold medicine. North is determined to win and won't take no for an answer. Jack is determined not to let the vile liquid near him.


Jack had been feeling awful all day. He had hardly covered any of North America and he hadn't even thought about getting over to another continent. His snowball fights had no heart in them and his usually very detailed work was turning sloppier and sloppier as more time passed.

He knew he was coming down with a fever of some sort but he rarely was sick so he was no expert in diagnosing a medical problem. Last time he tried he thought he had a hangnail and it turns out he had broken that finger. He protested that it was an honest mistake but no one ever took him seriously. He had been demoted to holding the medical supplies whenever anyone was hurt or sick.

He finished covering lower Wisconsin and the Plains of America in a light snow before having to head back to his pond. He was too exhausted to keep going and he figured that he could afford to take a day off. If anything the school systems would thank him, he though with a dizzy smile as he let the wind guide him home.

He landed lightly on the snowy ground before walking over to the center of the lake letting it freeze in his wake. Not his usual thin frost that formed wherever he walked but a thick ice covering. He always made sure that his lake was safe. After reinforcing the lake Jack fell down upon it and let the soothing cold calm his flushed skin. He knew that it was normal for people to get warm when they were sick; to fight off the bacteria, but it was dangerous for Jack to get warm. He could handle the heat for a short period of time but then he would need to go sit in the snow for almost double that amount of time. After all the other Guardians lived in warm temperatures. If he wanted to go see them he needed to bear the heat and go sit in a nice snowstorm later. He had never told the Guardians but this flaw was the reason he volunteered to take Sophie home on the day Easter went wrong.

He had contemplated telling them many times and he thought over doing it again as he relaxed against the ice. He could never think of a way to do it that would make the others feel okay about it. It would always sound like he was constantly bringing up his problems and they would always try and find a way to accommodate him. The problem was that Bunny and Tooth hated the cold and yet they would make their homes colder if it made him more comfortable.

He sighed and flipped on to his stomach. The ice wasn't helping and he could feel his temperature rising. This was the part of being sick that he hated. Soon he would be a sniffly, sneezing mess. And sure enough he could feel the start of a sore throat starting. He might get sick very rarely but it always followed a pattern.

Sore throat, sneezing and headache, and finally a cough that lasted for about a week even after he was healthy. All of this coupled with confusion and dizziness.

He hated it when he got sick. He really did. It looked like this was going to be a bad one to. He might have to take off to the Pole and find a nice glacier to sleep on, hell, he might even treat himself to a light layer of diamond dust. That should cool him down nicely. Good. He had a plan now he just had to get up and execute said plan.

Easier said than done.

Jack groaned as he tried to again lift himself off the ice. His arms were just so weak all of the sudden. He flopped back to the ground and clutched his staff tighter.

"Hey wind I know I've only been here like twenty minutes but I need some help. I need to get to the Pole, think you can help?"

The wind started to pick up and brushed lightly over Jack's body and tugged softly at his hair and clothes in response. Jack closed his eyes and sighed in relief. "Take me to the Pole, wind."

Jack flew up and took off with the wind to the Pole. Jack faded in and out through the whole trip but when the wind lightly deposited him on the ground he sighed in relief as the freezing cold embraced him. However the wind had placed him to close to North's domain and even as Jack snuggled into a snowdrift the yeti were going to alert North of Jack's arrival.

North was in his office working at another ice block that was slowly starting to take the shape of a pony toy. He had already finished the legs and he was just adding the final details to the mane and head. The horse's hair was tied into braids with flowers woven in and he had just chipped off the last offending piece of ice when a yeti burst through the door. The small ice pick slipped and snapped the head off the pony. North grunted in frustration before turning to face the yeti.

"What? What is problem now?"

The yeti responded with a line of gibberish that only North understood before the both of them were rushing to the entrance of North's home. He rushed out the door and into the snow where a few elves and a couple of yeti were gathered. The yeti who had alerted North originally chased after the Guardian with a coat shouting nonsense. North stumbled up to where the yeti were waiting and what he saw made his heart stop.

Jack was curled up in the snow, still as a corpse and barely moving. He knew that the cold didn't effect Jack like it did others but the sight was enough to make him worry. What if something was wrong? He lifted the boy up and fighting against the sudden biting wind started to carry him back to the workshop. The elves clung to the yeti who moved to shield North from the ice riddled wind.

He finally made it back to the workshop and stumbling inside he felt himself start to shiver violently as he pressed on to the infirmary. He laid the small winter spirit down on a bed before starting to figure out what was wrong. He wasn't bleeding anywhere and there didn't seem to be any wounds on his body. North continued to poke and prod at Jack in hopes of finding a clue as to what could be the cause of his condition.

Said winter sprite moaned and tried to flip onto his side as he felt the fingers digging into his side. He tried to swat the hands away but could barely gather the energy. Any comfort he might have gained from the below freezing temperatures of the Pole was draining away as quickly as it had come.

"Jack, what is wrong? The yeti found you outside in snow."

"M' warm," he groaned out before again trying to shift into a more comfortable position. He whimpered in defeat when he felt hands restrain him once again. "I don't feel well, North."

North cursed in Russian before pushing the boy back into the bed. "Stay here Jack. I will make it better." He made sure that the small spirit wouldn't move before hurrying off to the medicine storage. The Guardians acquired many injuries in their line of work so it was easier to have a large supply on hand at all times. He went through all the bottles he could as fast as possible to try and find something that could help Jack's fever.

As North rummaged around Jack groped out looking blindly for his staff. It was way too warm in here. He needed it to be colder. Why was it so hot? It shouldn't be this hot here; he was in the North Pole right? Jack groggily looked around. Where was the snow?

North let out a hearty laugh when he found the medicine that would help Jack. He turned around at the same time a blast of cold air hit him. North was greeted with the sight of Jack Frost curled up in a pile of fluffy snow like a kitten to its mother's belly. The whole scene would have been beyond adorable if Jack wasn't still sniffling.

"Winter spirit, puh. Can't sweat fever out like normal person. No. Has to freeze it, of course." He carefully stepped around to the bed Jack was on. He could only imagine the mess the melted snow would make. It covered the bed and even formed little mounds on the ground. Some of the elves that snuck in were already forming it into snowballs and throwing it around.

He unscrewed the lid and tipped some of the medicine into it. He wasn't sure how much to give an immortal teenager over 300 years old, but a cap-full sounded like a safe bet.

North nudged Jack softly, "I have medicine for you to take. It will help with fever," he silently added the 'probably.' However nothing involving children and medicine could possibly be that easy.

"No," Jack whined, "No medicine North. Just let me sleep." He cracked an eye open despite his wish to sleep.

North grunted and waved the lid at Jack. "Please make this easy and take medicine now."

Jack shook his head as hard as he could in his confused state and clapped his mouth shut.

"Jack. Jack no." He kept trying to push the lid towards Jack who subsequently kept moving his head away from it. "We are not doing this. You will take medicine now." Jack flailed back away from North with such a force that he almost feel off the bed. "If you will not take it I will call Bunny and he will have to hold you down."

Jack glared at him with as much force as he could muster and in his current state it had about as much power as a puppy's. He grabbed the lid and glanced down at the medicine inside. He smelled it by accident and gagged. North laughed and clasped the boy on the back being mindful of the snow on the bed. North reached up and grabbed his nose before miming taking the medicine. Jack sighed before following suit.

He retched regardless because nothing could completely block out the foul taste of liquid medicine. Jack was able to hold it down anyway and fell back into his pile of snow and pillows. The elves had started a full out snowball fight and North settled in to the bed next to Jack's so he could watch over the boy while he slept. Jack smiled back weakly and drifted off to sleep as the cold and the medicine pulled him down into a dreamless slumber.


End file.
